Facebook's Sandberg Apologizes For Newsfeed Experiment

Facebook chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg addresses an interactive session organized by the women's wing of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) in New Delhi on Wednesday.

"'This was part of ongoing research companies do to test different products, and that was what it was; it was poorly communicated,' Sandberg, Facebook's chief operating officer, said while in New Delhi. 'And for that communication we apologize. We never meant to upset you.'

"Sandberg was in India meeting with smaller-sized businesses that advertise on Facebook. The company is working with advertisers outside the U.S. to launch campaigns that are more tailored to local markets. She was meeting with entrepreneurs and businesswomen as part of her "Lean In" campaign when she commented on the study."

"That includes Ireland's Office of the Data Protection Commissioner, which regulates Facebook's global operations outside North America because the company has its international headquarters in Dublin. The Irish regulator has sent a series of questions to Facebook related to potential privacy issues, including whether the company got consent from users for the study, according to a spokeswoman.

"The Information Commissioner's Office of Britain also said that it was looking into potential privacy breaches that may have affected the country's residents, though a spokesman of the office said that it was too early to know whether Facebook had broken the law. It is unknown where the users who were part of the experiment were located. Some 80 percent of Facebook's 1.2 billion users are based outside North America."